February 2009

February 27, 2009

Our heads of Retail and Manufacturing operations are just back from Asia, where they supervised the start of production for several of our newest products (which you'll be seeing in stores soon). Here are a few tidbits from China and Hong Kong, once again courtesy of our own Tom Krysiak:

The worldwide economic slowdown has made for low-cost airfares to Asia. Round-trip coach seats are $750. So if you’ve been looking to trek out to China – for your invention or pleasure – there are bargain seats to be had.

Chinese New Year holidays are now over. Thousands of factories that would normally have re-opened after the holidays have gone out of business. The local paper said China has 170 million factory workers, and 20 million of them are now without jobs. Yikes! The turmoil also makes it all the more important for us (and you, if you’re manufacturing over there) to repeatedly visit factory sites and verify the ongoing health of suppliers to make sure quality is maintained.

The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requires a lot more safety diligence and vigilance even when manufacturing overseas, making the lab testing of products for export the one business that’s really starting to boom over there.

Many prices are lower now than six months ago because of the slow business climate and the drop in oil prices since last year’s highs.

The food in Hong Kong has never tasted better – Tom strongly recommends the curry chicken with spring carrots and basil, and says don’t be afraid to try to delicate street foods too.

February 24, 2009

We’re very close – so close we can taste it – to launching a bunch of cool new items into stores. And needless to say, we’re psyched!

We’re also considering many other new products for eventual launch under the AbsolutelyNew brand name. And as we think about them, we thought you might want to weigh in with feedback too. After all, we’re talking inventive products, and you’re inventive people.

So if you’d like to see and share feedback on a few patented items that are even newer than cutting edge (what would you call that – ahead of the curve?), click here to check out our new AbsolutelyNew Labs feedback page.

We’ll refresh the products regularly if this is something you really get into.

February 20, 2009

We love flashlights! Not quite as much as we love robots and things with radar or GPS... but we love them nonetheless... and find they’re often a lot more useful than a robot during a power outage or camping trip.

So we were psyched to discover Bushnell’s inventive newHD Torch flashlight. This baby casts some seriously bright 165 lumens LED light, has a strobe feature, and... talk about thinking outside (or inside) the box... puts out a perfectly square beam of light for greater visibility to what’s in front of you, compared to the circular beam other flashlights cast. Because the earth may be round, but it’s nice to see what’s in all four the corners.

Add in a cool silver metal casing, and a button that glows green so you can find it in the dark and flashes red when the batteries are running low, and we’re thinking this is a winner that we can’t wait to put in our workshop. What about you?

February 13, 2009

We just returned from The World Market – a home furnishings tradeshow so big that it occupies three 10- to 16-story buildings dedicated year-round to this week-long Las Vegas show. You might not expect to see inventive new products there, but sure enough, we did. Here are the Top 5 take-aways from our Director of Licensing, Joyce Apfel:

Buyers are keen on new products, seeing them as the key to attracting business during cautious times. Most appealing to them: multi-functional items (think ottomans with interior storage, cabinets w/ inside mirrors) and everything green – green materials more so than shades of green.

We saw lots of purchase orders being taken... and lots of upbeat people.

Affordability is THE rage in this industry known for very unaffordable (for most of us) goods. Some of the hottest pieces at the Show were casual dining sets priced under $1,000. And even the high-end players are taking note... and coming out with lower cost offerings.

The home furnishings business is slowly but surely following other product categories with sales increasingly going online. Enabling this shift is an industry evolution to drop-shipping – industry-speak for shipping individual pieces from distribution centers directly to people’s homes, instead of making individuals buy through stores holding inventory.

Young, female professionals are a new industry sweet-spot. They're buying lots of furniture, and they’re assembling pieces at home with their girlfriends. Look for more products, and marketing, aimed at this demographic.

February 10, 2009

One of the many cool things about invention is that you can find inspiration anywhere, any time, in just about any thing.

That’s why we enjoyed reading about a coffee-drinking doctor (of metallurgy) who looked at the oily film atop yesterday’s coffee and was inspired to develop a new form of biodiesel.

Really. Yesterday’s joe inspired the University of Nevada at Reno’s Dr. Manoranjan Misra, along with two colleagues, to ponder, then explore, and ultimately figure out how to convert used coffee grounds into fuel. Real fuel. To power real cars. And as if that weren’t cool enough, there’s more:

This new fuel burns with a faint coffee scent (decaf coffee, we guess), compared to other biodiesels and regular gasoline that don’t always smell so nice.

Whereas other plant-based biodiesel sources like soy use up land and the actual plant, the coffee biodiesel only uses the leftovers that would otherwise be thrown out.

The coffee biodiesel performs well – no sacrificing on quality here – and would likely cost an estimated $1/gallon to make at a medium-sized processing facility.

Does this mean you'll be able to fill 'er up in more ways than one when you visit your local Starbucks? Only time will tell. We do know that the Starbucks folks in Reno were happy to give the docs used grounds for their research.

To learn more, click here to read The Economist coverage of this story.

February 04, 2009

You’ve absolutely got to check out The Lounger. It’s a, get this, magnetic levitation lounge chair that hovers where you want it.

We can’t take credit for working on this beautiful invention. But we’re still awed by it. And we wanted to share the love in case you’re as much of a sucker as we are for anything related to mag-lev (and lasers and robots and sticky notes). Too late for enjoying the Super Bowl, but with March Madness approaching... hmmmm.

Seriously, when was the last time you saw something this cool?

For details, click here to pop open British manufacturer Hoverlit Ltd.’s website. Kudos also to the guys at online magazine uncrate for finding this levitating chair.

February 02, 2009

In case you missed it, we’re pleased to report that our inventive Side Solution(TM) pillow sold out in the first few minutes of its QVC debut. This also marked the TV selling debut for its inventor, Dr. Paul Mettler.

As we scramble to arrange another segment on the world’s largest TV shopping channel, we also paused for a moment to ask Dr. Metter about the experience. Here are Q&A snippets from the conversation, which we hope you’ll find useful as you consider promoting your invention on television:

Q: How did you prepare for selling on QVC?A: I worked for several weeks on developing a script that would focus on the problem/solution strategy. This is very important, so I worked on it with AbsolutelyNew and the QVC training program. I also practiced with friends to get the message and delivery fine-tuned

Q: How did you feel right before going on air?A: This was my first live, on-camera experience so I was somewhat anxious but excited that a 15-year dream of getting the pillow into the national market was finally happening.

Q: What was the on-camera experience like?A: I had no idea that QVC’s on-air host would just walk over from the set he had been previously selling on, shake my hand, and then immediately begin the show for my pillow. Everything happened really fast and not entirely as we planned. For example, our time was moved up, and our live model was not given notice of this time change, so we began the presentation without the model and then she came just as I was ready to do a live model demo. Once the model arrived I was able to really relax and have fun.

Q: Can you describe the moment when the host interrupted you mid-sentence, shook your hand again, and told you that QVC had just sold out all inventory?A: I was really focused on the message and connecting with the host. So I really did not think about the audience or selling out. I was really surprised but very excited we sold out so fast

Q: What are your thoughts looking back?A: It’s an exhilarating and very rewarding experience. And I feel very blessed for the excellent preparation I received.

Q: What advice would you give another inventor who wants to sell on QVC?A: I would tell them not to give up on their dreams, be persistent, and let others help them reach their full potential

BTW, to see the man behind the pillow success, click here to see QVC's selling page... and then click the Videos tab to watch Dr. Mettler's debut.